Tallon Kerry Patrick Acquires Shares of 3,679 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $100.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.